The Queen
of Consensus
DEBORAH A. GARZA
· PARTNER, COVINGTON & BURLING;
WASHINGTON, D.C.
· ANTITRUST
· SUPER LAWYERS 2007–2014;
TOP 50 WOMEN 2009–2014
If you build it, disparate parties
will come to the table. At least,
they will for Deborah Garza
BY BILL GLOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN VOSS
DEBORAH GARZA HAS REASON TO BRAG.
Consider the presidential appointment, her
reputation as a colossus in antitrust law, not
to mention her impressive career, 33 years
and counting, which includes landmark
cases such as the $81 billion merger of
Exxon and Mobil, U.S. v. Microsoft and the
USFL’s suit against the NFL.
But bragging isn’t what she does. With
short-cropped hair and reading glasses
that sway from her neck, the soft-spoken
Garza brings to mind a friendly local
librarian. Diminutive and attentive, she is
comfortable sitting quietly as her green
eyes puzzle out a situation.
Shortly after starting at the firm in 1990,
“I had a research project that had to do
with international antitrust issues,” says
Thomas Barnett, who, along with Garza,
While working with Garza, Barnett had no
idea that she was one of the key people
who had developed the document at the
Department of Justice. “It was an early sign
of the depth and breadth of her antitrust
experience and expertise,” he says.
Garza gained this expertise by alternating
between private firms and three stints with
the DOJ, where she was appointed acting
assistant attorney general in charge of the
antitrust division. Far from being slowed
down by all of the competing interests at
the DOJ, Garza learned how to operate
within governmental bureaucracy and
satisfy its disparate elements, earning a
reputation as a consensus builder.
“She wasn’t the typical backslapping,
hail-fellow-well-met fellow who works in
the agency,” says Ken Heyer, deputy director
of the Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade
Commission. “She genuinely cared about
people. She paid attention to everyone and
made everyone feel valuable. … She’s one of
the most genuinely nice and caring people
I’ve had the pleasure to come across.”
Outside Garza’s office window stands
a statue of General Casimir Pulaski. A
Revolutionary War hero, Pulaski was a
Polish immigrant who became the father
of the American cavalry. It’s a reminder of
her own story.
